Fifth Column
"Fifth Column" is the 35th episode of the second season of Exosquad. Summary Admiral Winfield has the Earth Resistance all launch attacks at once, as a prelude to the ExoFleet's invasion. Napier's group succeeds in part because of help from the Terran workers at the factory they were attacking. These workers join the resistance in the tanks that they had built for an assault on Phaeton City. On the way they are met by Neosapien Hovertanks, and a battle begins at Battle Creek. Before the ExoFleet attack Weston gives Alec's flight recorder to Algernon. Meanwhile Galba learns of Phaeton's doomsday device and tries to notify the resistance, which is unable to contact the ExoFleet before the invasion begins. Synopsis :Click HERE of a detailed synopsis of " " Characters *Admiral Winfield *Maggie Weston *Algernon *Sean Napier *Phaeton *Galba Quotes *Cates, trying to inspire his fellow workers to fight: "We've been putting the Neos weapons together long enough. Let's start taking 'em apart!" *Napier, trying to convince those workers to go to fight in Chicago: "I understand you people are hungry. But what are you hungry for? Food? Or freedom? It's 400 kilometers to Chicago. Those tanks can make that in 2 hours. Anyone feel like a drive?" Significant events, revelations, and other notes *Chicago resistance succeds in their mission to Detroit, and is now headed back to Phaeton's capital with a column of tanks. They are ambushed and must fight the Battle of Battle Creek. *Why was Detroit not renamed? Did Phaeton lack a prestigious officer's name to use or was Detroit not important enough in terms of symbolism? *The writers use the wrong souce during Winfield's briefing. During the Spanish Civil War, the term Fifth column was said by Emilio Mola. **Another historical mistake is made in "Mindset". *The Fourth Battle of Earth begins. *Galba, the last remaining Neo Mega, informs the resistance of Phaeton's doomsday device, causing a frantic attempt to call off Exofleet's attack. He is promptly captured. *Weston gives Algernon Alec's interface recorder. It was had an advanced pilot/e-frame interface, so that the e-frame shared the pilot's mind. This becomes significant in "Beyond Chaos." For what exact reasons Weston gave him the flight recorder, and whether she had any hopes that Algernon would do what he did, is up for debate. *Phaeton's bunker is likely a comparision to Hitler's Führerbunker. *The fact that the doorway Phaeton will pass through to enter his bunker states, "Abandon all hope ye who enter here," as well as his statement that he will never leave, make it clear that Phaeton himself has lost hope in winning the war. **It would be interesting to learn how much symbolism is intended in the carving on Phaeton's bunker. When Dante first passes through the gate bearing this inscription the souls that he finds being tortured were those who were neither good nor evil, but only for themselves. Perhaps this is a further step in viewing Phaeton as a tragic figure. At first he seemed to genuinely care about bettering the status of his fellow Neo sapiens. Only later was his obsession with maintaining his own personal power. **The passage from the Inferno is the last of nine lines inscribed over the gate to hell. The first three lines are: "I am the way into the city of woe. I am the way to a forsaken people. I am the way into eternal sorrow." Ironic, since this could well describe the plight of the Neo sapiens at the beginning of this story. *For all of the anti-Terran propaganda spoken by the Neosapien leadership, many of them have studied terran history. **“A Traitor Among Us”: the shuttle pilots ridicule beliefs such as the sun god and the Tooth Fairy. **“Mindset”: Marsala quotes Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (it should have been Georges Clemenceau). **“The Dream War”, “No Surrender”: Marsala and J.T. Marsh tell Sean Napier about Douglas MacArthur's “I came through and I shall return.” speech after his escape from the Philippines. **“Fire Ship”: Typhonus tells Barca the history of the fire ship and the hellburners. **“The Price of Courage”: Phaeton tells Shiva the story of Julius Caesar and his decision to cross the Rubicon River and march against the capital of Rome. Both Phaeton and Shiva say the quote “The die is cast.” **“The Art of War”: Livia sees art as useful for understanding Terran psychology and psychiatry. **“Fifth Column”, “Abandon Hope”: Phaeton’s bunker has the phrase “Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate” (“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”), which is from Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy”. *The producers and writers wrote several parallels to World War II into the series. **“The Price of Courage”: the Neosapien’s last-chance attempt to re-conquer venus was a parallel to the Battle of the Bulge. **“One Small Step”: the desperate and costly battle for the Moon was a parallel to the Battle of Okinawa. **“Fifth Column”: the symbolism of Phaeton’s bunker was a parallel to the Führerbunker. **“The Night Before Doomsday”, “Abandon Hope”: the final major combat action, the Battle of Phaeton City (Battle of Chicago), was a parallel to the Battle of Berlin. 48 2 35